Tenn. accelerator seeks 'moon shot'

8:06 AM,
Aug. 18, 2013

Written by

Laura
Baverman

Google's self-driving car and Elon Musk's electric Tesla might get the most headlines, but a new program in rural Tennessee is proving that automotive industry innovators can be found anywhere.

Tucked in the middle of the state, in a town called Spring Hill and a plant once occupied by now-defunct Saturn, is a startup accelerator called AutoXLR8R. All summer, 10 teams of entrepreneurs have been at work building businesses around technologies that improve vehicular safety, emissions or energy efficiency.

These men and women are Ph.D. candidates, Forbes30 Under 30 award winners and ...